Upcoming trip to North America

28 February 2025

In a few days, I’m heading off to North America, for a brief trip to give a few talks, at Chapman University in California, Calgary University in Alberta, and finally, a brief stop at CUNY in New York. I’m looking forward to meeting new friends and catching up with old ones, as well as the chance to talk with smart people about my research.

Meanwhile, I’ve managed to do a bit of reading during February, as I’ve been preparing for this trip.

First up, I read Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the night that split the Sixties, by Elijah Wald, after watching A Complete Unknown. It’s a long and winding tale, which introduced me to the world of folk music in the US in the 1960s, which was unfamiliar with me.

The other non-fiction for the month was Truth and Repair: How trauma survivors envision justice, by Judith Lewis Herman; Henri Nouwen’s Spiritual Direction, and The Sirens’ Call: How attention became the world’s most endangered resource, by Chris Hayes.

There was only one novel this month: Kaliane Bradley’s The Ministry of Time. This was a fun and mind-bending read. I think the initial 80% was much stronger than the final 20%, but the whole thing was worth the read. I think I’ll try to read more fiction while on my trip. Let’s all see how this plan pans out!